Mumbai: Leander Paes said on Saturday that his US Open winning partner Martin Damm's David Cup commitments forced him to pair up with Pakistan's Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi in the US$ 380,000 Kingfisher Airlines Open starting on Monday.
"Martin (Damm) is at Davis Cup at the moment in Holland where he will be playing till Sunday night European time," Paes said.
"The playing conditions there are completely different, indoor clay courts and cold weather. Completely different to those in Mumbai, outdoor hard courts and hot-humid weather. In such different conditions, unfortunately he couldn't be here."
Paes and Czech Republic's Damm won the US Open doubles title this year. It was Paes' first Grand Slam title after parting ways with Mahesh Bhupathi and Damm's first ever at a Grand Slam.
Paes said he was looking forward to partnering Qureshi who was in the rival camp when India played Pakistan in the Davis Cup play-off tie in April.
"Five months ago, we were rivals at the same venue in Mumbai, so it's nice to be on the same side of the court this time.
"It's great to be partnering Aisam, who's an old friend. He is a serve and volley player, much like myself, which makes it interesting to see how well we gel on the court.
"We look forward to a great run in Mumbai."
Bhupathi is paired with Croatia's world No 12 singles player Mario Ancic. The pair won the title at China Open in Beijing last week.
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